Swept From Nepal To India: Rescuer Crosses Border To Bring Two Dogs Home

NICHL AUL, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA, September 1, 2026

Nepali veterinarian and animal rescuer Tula Ram Rajbanshi has reached India to bring home two pet dogs that survived being swept from Nepal during the devastating floods. The animals were discovered alive around Nichlaul in Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh, after apparently being carried far downstream and separated from their home. Their story gained attention after an Indian resident shared an online appeal hoping to locate people connected to them in Nepal, eventually leading Rajbanshi to travel across the border to help return them safely.

Carried Far From Home

The dogs’ survival is remarkable considering the enormous force and distance of the floodwaters.

The disaster that struck Nepal sent powerful currents downstream through connected river systems, carrying people, animals and debris far beyond the worst-hit areas. Indian authorities have also recovered victims believed to have been swept from Nepal in the Gandak River around Maharajganj and other parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Somewhere along that destructive path, the two dogs survived.

A Stranger's Appeal Reaches Nepal

After the animals were found alive near Nichlaul, an appeal appeared online asking people to spread their photos and videos so that their surviving family members could learn that they were safe.

The message travelled quickly across social media. What began as an effort by strangers in India to protect two unidentified dogs soon reached people across the border in Nepal.

Tula Ram Rajbanshi Steps Forward

Among those who responded was Tula Ram Rajbanshi, a veterinarian and experienced animal rescuer known for his work through TFC Nepal (Tula's Foundation for Compassion Nepal).

Rajbanshi has spent years caring for injured and abandoned animals. His previous work has also taken him into disaster-hit communities, including Jajarkot following the 2023 earthquake, where he worked to rescue and care for animals affected by the disaster.

This time, the mission took him beyond Nepal's border.

The Journey Back Has Begun

Rajbanshi has now reached India and is bringing the two dogs back toward Nepal, giving their extraordinary journey a hopeful ending.

After surviving powerful floodwaters, ending up in another country and depending entirely on strangers for protection, the dogs are finally travelling in the direction they belong — home.

Strangers Connected By Compassion

Their survival also tells another story: one of people helping without borders.

The people who found the dogs could easily have known nothing about where they came from. Instead, they kept them safe and shared their story. People online helped carry the message farther, and a rescuer from Nepal eventually travelled to India to bring them back.

Each person became part of a chain that gave these animals another chance.

Four Paws Heading Home

Nepal's floods have brought enormous grief to families who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods and animals. Against that painful backdrop, the survival of these two pets offers a small but meaningful moment of hope.

Animals cannot explain how frightened they were, how far the water carried them or what they experienced along the way. But pets are part of families too, and their absence can leave people searching and hoping just as desperately.

For these two flood survivors, that long uncertainty is finally giving way to a journey home.